Displaying items by tag: nitrites

When you are ready to purchase your first aquarium, one of the first things you learn is how to properly cycle the aquarium and how to slowly introduce new fish to avoid ammonia spikes while the colonies of beneficial bacteria are developing. That's easy enough to follow -- but what about when you have to move an existing community of fish to a new home? Maybe you moved and have to re-establish the aquarium, maybe you're moving to a larger or even a smaller tank; whatever the reason, there are ways to safely move the fish without as much risk of ammonia spikes.

A properly cycled tank contains a healthy colony of bacteria that breaks down ammonia from a fish's waste and uneaten food into nitrites and then into nitrates. In a healthy tank, there should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and less than 40ppm nitrates (20ppm if you have invertebrates such as snails or shrimp). Without sufficient amounts of beneficial bacteria, ammonia and nitrite in the water may be fatal to fish.

Beneficial bacteria live all through the water and on every underwater surface in the aquarium, but the water itself carries a very low concentration of bacteria so it's not very effective to simply transfer water from the old aquarium to the new in order to maintain bacteria levels. Ideally, you will be able to transfer some old filter media to the new aquarium, or even a handful of gravel or fake plants that will all have beneficial bacteria on them. Make sure that the materials of your choice stay wet with tank water until they can be placed in the new aquarium.

Alternatively, if you have EcoBio-Stone products in your aquarium, that will be sufficient to switch over to the new one. EcoBio-Block has a lot of beneficial bacteria living in its volcanic rock and has quite a bit of surface area so a lot of additional bacteria get transferred over from the established tank. It is not necessary to keep EcoBio-Block wet, but it may help eliminate any minor ammonia spikes that may occur after the transfer as there will be more active bacteria immediately if kept wet. EcoBio-Block will also allow you to wait a little bit longer before doing the first water change as it provides essential minerals that would otherwise have to be replenished through water changes, giving the fish extra time to de-stress after a big move without being bothered.

Make sure not to put whatever bacteria-containing materials you've chosen into the new aquarium until a de-chlorinator has been used in the water as chlorine will kill the bacteria. Keep close tabs on the water parameters for the first week after the transfer, doing minor water changes as needed to compensate for any ammonia in the system that may not be compensated for by the bacteria yet. Watch the fish closely for any clamped fins or red, puffy gills as these may be signs that the water parameters are off. If these simple guidelines are followed your fish should have a relatively effortless and healthy move.

Green water is a nasty problem in many aquariums; one day you have a gorgeous, crystal-clear tank and the next day you wake up to an aquarium of opaque green. This condition is caused by a free-floating algae bloom, and it really can go from no problem at all to being able to see absolutely nothing inside the aquarium overnight. So what do you do about it?

As with most things, the best cure is prevention. Green water occurs when an aquarium is overstocked or has too much decaying organic matter in it. This process creates an excess of nitrates and other nutrients that feed the algae. Once all the right environmental factors are in place, the algae takes over quickly and mercilessly. The key is to keep nitrates down and the water parameters healthy for the fish.

You can start by ensuring you're not over-feeding your fish. A fish in the wild can never be certain where its next meal is coming from, so its metabolism has adapted into that of an opportunistic eater. Healthy fish will always be hungry, so you can not simply feed them until they stop eating. Give your fish just enough that it takes them about two minutes to eat all the food twice a day (three times if you have juveniles); if you see uneaten food get to the bottom, cut back a little.

Next, make sure you have good mechanical filtration and a well-aerated tank. For additional preventative, you can use a time-released water maintenance product such as EcoBio-Block products. These products last up to two years apiece and ensure that the water in the aquarium stays perfectly balanced by breaking down the toxic ammonia and nitrites from waste and excess food, as well as re-supplying essential minerals in the water as they're used up by the fish.

Many aquarists believe that direct sunlight is the main cause of green water and this is not true. While direct sunlight should be avoided because of its effects on the water temperature, algae can not bloom without quite a bit of excess nutrients in the water. It is true that algae can not grow without light as well, but the algae requires very little light for its photosynthesis; once it's started, any tiny bit of natural light that reaches the aquarium will be sufficient to continue its growth.

Live plants are great for helping get rid of excess nitrates and there are many hardy varieties that will use up a lot of the spare nitrates that algae blooms feed on. In most cases you'll want to keep an eye on the plants so dead pieces can be removed before they start to decay, however this is not a problem if you have an EcoBio-stone or adult P. bridgesii (a type of apple snail commonly sold in pet stores), or "brigs". Brigs grow to about the size of golf balls, lay their eggs above the water line so population control is easy, and as adults never eat healthy plants. Be certain you have an adult before you introduce it into a planted tank, though, because the juveniles are still able (and very willing!) to eat healthy plants. If you decide on snails, do a little research first. P. canaliculata, or "canas", can look very similar to brigs if you aren't familiar with them, and canas grow to the size of a softball and will always have a voracious appetite for live plants.

Regular partial water changes are required to keep the nitrates down and remove organic material from the aquarium. Again, if you have a time-released product such as EcoBio-Stone this is not necessary, though occasionally stirring your substrate to get rid of potentially harmful gas pockets and to send organic materials through your mechanical filter is recommended. If the water is kept in pristine condition, you will not have a problem with green water.

Finally, once you have green water it is difficult and time-consuming to get rid of. You can begin by restricting light, even covering the outside of the aquarium with paper to keep additional light out, and do a partial water change to get rid of some of the excess nutrients. Note that the water changes in themselves will do nothing to get rid of the algae, it reproduces quickly and can only be gotten rid of through "starvation". Cut back your fish's food and leave the tank light off for the duration of the clearing time. It may take a couple of weeks to clear up.

As soon as the tank is clear, immediately take some of the preventative measures outlined above to avoid re-occurrence. I especially recommend ensuring that you have a good mechanical filter, plenty of aeration to keep beneficial bacteria healthy, and a time-released maintenance product to ensure the water is always as close to perfect as possible.

If you've been doing some research on taking care of your new aquarium or are an experienced fish keeper, you'll no doubt have noticed that while the requirements of an aquarium are not very difficult to fulfill, they do require ongoing attention. So what happens if you want to go on vacation and no one will be around to do water changes? What if there's a family emergency that takes your time and attention for extended periods of time? Life is so unpredictable you can never be absolutely certain that you'll always be there to look after your fish, but with a few alterations to your daily aquarium care schedule you can effectively switch to a temporary "low-maintenance" mode.

The primary concern with extended absences or emergency situations where there's just no time to perform aquarium maintenance tasks is the water quality. Depending on stocking levels, aquariums need a partial water change anywhere from once a month to as often as once a week. If you're like me, you barely trust anyone else to feed your fish, much less perform water changes, so the ideal solution is to find a way to maintain water quality for extended periods until you can resume your normal maintenance routine.

Water changes are done to remove excess nitrates in the system; nitrate is the end product after ammonia and nitrites from waste and uneaten food have been broken down by beneficial bacteria. If you wish to slow the rate of nitrate buildup, you simply have to reduce the amount of waste and uneaten food in the aquarium; when you're not able to do water changes, this means feeding less. In the wild there is no guarantee of getting regular food; as a result a fish's metabolism is such that the fish can take advantage of food when it is offered but can also live for days or weeks with very little or no food without it having an adverse effect on the fish's health. So, option one is to cut back to only feeding the fish once every two or three days; this won't completely stop the level of nitrates from growing, but it will help slow it.

Next, you can use a water maintenance product such as EcoBio-Stone in your aquarium. EcoBio-Block contains a strain of hardy beneficial bacteria that break down the ammonia and nitrites from waste. Additionally, the product leaches essential minerals into the water; these minerals are used up quickly by the fish and generally need to be replaced through water changes unless a water maintenance product is present. There is also evidence indicating that EcoBio-Block helps promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria in the substrate which breaks nitrates down into a gas that can evaporate, making water changes unnecessary. There haven't been sufficient studies to confirm this yet, but aquarists have observed low nitrate levels and have been able to go for even a year at a time without doing a partial water change. Organic material such as waste and excess food will still need to be removed either through the filtration system or gravel vacuums, but that can be done at your leisure.